


Where I belong

by Flowerpot89



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Friends to Lovers, I'm Bad At Tagging, My First Work in This Fandom, Overprotective Dwarves, Protective Frerin, Return to Erebor, Slavery, What Was I Thinking?, please give it a chance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-05-03 01:50:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14558232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flowerpot89/pseuds/Flowerpot89
Summary: What happens when a long lost family member returns? How will their future change with two new members to the company?





	1. Helpless

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own any characters from the book/the films. I only own my oc.
> 
> English is not my native language and I don't have a beta reader. 
> 
> Warning: the first chapters contain abuse, violence and attempted rape.

It was a clear night, thousands of stars were shining bright. In the middle of the forrest were two figures huddled together. A little family, a father and his daughter, not by blood but with an even stronger bond. The man, a dwarf was fast asleep, while the woman, a dwobbit was watching over him. He was exhausted from the long run of the night and the beating he took that day.They were running away. Away from their current master, a slaver and his caravan.

  
When the sun rose behind the trees she woke her father. The sky was painted in soft pink colors with only small clouds, this would be a wonderful, sunny day. But it wouldn't be a wonderful day for everyone.  
"Adad, we have to go, they will find out that we are gone soon and they will track us down."  
"I know, nathith, I know" he only whispered. His throat was sore from disuse and the lack of water.

  
Slowly he stood, with a little help of his daughter. They went into a different direction in the hope their pursuers wouldn't find their tracks.  
They wandererd in the shadows of the trees for hourse and were still hoping for the best outcome. Maybe they had lost their tracks, the woman was praying to every God she knew. But all hope was lost when they heard the sound of nearing horses. They ran to the thicker bushes and tried to hide but of no avail.

  
"Come out, and I won't kill you immediately." Their master all but growled.  
The woman looked at her father, "stay here, adad... I won't go down without a fight, but you are too exhausted." She stood up and ignored her fathers pleas to stay hidden.

  
"You can have me, but you won't get me without a fight." With that she jumped out of the bushes, the stolen sword from one of the caravans guards in her hand.  
"Aw, little kitty, you wanna play with us?" The all grinned as her master marched over to her, hand on the handle of his own sword. "We can play a different game, one with a little bit more fun.. for me." He sneered.

  
He pulled out his sword and began to circle the woman. She moved backwards when his first attack came. They fought for a few minutes and his blows were really hard, but she was small and lithe and soon the man had a bloody wound on his tigh. His grin was long gone and his eyes were full of hate. With the woman occupied with the fight, two of the men ran into the bushes and captured the exhausted dwarf, he was not able to fight them off.  
"Give me your sword kitty, or the dwarf will die." her eyes went wide when she looked over her shoulder and saw her father on his knees with a knife at his neck.  
She swallowed heavy and let go of her sword.

  
"I surrender.. just.. don't hurt him. Please." Just when she spoke the last word the attacker was on her, pushing her to the ground with his hands on her throat.  
"You will pay for this, when I am done with you, you wish you were never born. And then I will have some fun with the little bastard you call a father. But for now I will let him watch. Let him watch how I defile his little girl and he can do nothing to stop me." He grinned and leaned down to kiss her, but she turned her head away, a tear running down her sweaty and grimy cheek. He licked it away with his tongue, his smell was disgusting and she tried to fight him off, but he was of men and she was just a little dwobbit lass. He held her hands down, both of her wrists in one of his big hands. The other pushed her sorry excuse of a dress up her tighs.  
"No.. please.. don't... don't do this" she spoke between sobs, still trying to fight him. Her whole body was trashing beneath him.  
"I like it when they fight and I will enjoy this so much. I will break you, little kitty. I will break your virginity, then I will break your body and when I am done with that I will break your mind. You are mine and mine alone. I will use you and you will thank me for it." His hand found it's way to her stomach and the waistband of her undergarments.  
"Nononono, please... don't take it away from me"  
"I will little kitty" he smirked. Her father tried to get to her but was shoved down by his guards.

  
"Let her go, she is just a kid, take your anger out on me... let her be." He pleaded.  
"Nah, you ain't got no pussy _master_ dwarf. enjoy the show"

  
She looked at her father with tears in her eyes. "I am sorry adad, I am so so sorry."  
"Don't be, nathith, don't be." He let his head hung, his vision blurred with his own tears.  
"Isn't this a nice show? But back to business.." With that he pushed his hands into her underwear and cupped her virgin sex with his rough hand. "Hmm" he moaned and she could feel the bulg in his trousers grow.  
"NOOO." She screamed. "Adad help me.. someone.. please"  
Her assaulter leaned over her again. "There is noone, my dear. Noone will help you." He licked her face again, down her throat and bit down where her neck and her shoulders met. He bit so hard that her skin broke and she screamed in pain, her eyes shut. 


	2. My name is

Just when he went back up again and his finger brushed over the skin between her thigs he went limp on top of her. When she opened her eyes again she saw an arrow sticking out of his body, right before he fell backwards off of her. 

Her eyes went wide and she swallowed another scream. She scrambled back on her feet and ran to the sword which lay forgotten on the ground a few feet away from her. With the sword in hand she ran to her father, who was fighting one of the two slavers, the other one was already dead, there was also an arrow in his body. She saw a group of dwarves fighting with the rest of the slavers. Just when she was near her father the slaver hit him hard on the head and he fell to the ground. She screamed and stabbed the slaver with the sword before she fell on her knees, sobbing and with her forehead against his. Her hair fell around her head.

"Adad.. please.. don't leave me." she whispered. She had no eyes or ears for the fighting around her. But soon enough all slavers were gone and one of the group of dwarves came forward.  
"What happened and who are you?" He asked with a deep voice, his sword still in his hand.   
She looked up at him and with a shaking hand she held the sword in his direction. He was a good looking dwarf with long black hair with some silver streaks in it, he looked pretty regal, maybe he was a lord or something like that she thought. He was dressed in deep blue colors and he was looking at her with such a strong gaze, that she felt really small.  
"If you think you can be our new master, you are wrong. I would rather kill you than let my adad be a slave again. He was hurt enough" Her voice was trembling. The last part was only a whisper.  
He moved closer to her.

"No, stay where you are." She jumped to her feet, but as soon as she stood, there were arms around her. One of the dwarves stood behind her, trying to hold her still, but she was struggling. She lost the sword when he pressed her arms thight against her body and trapped her effectively between his body and his arms.   
"Nonono, please let me go... I beg you." Tears were running down her face and most of the dwarves were looking on the ground with somber facial expression. She saw one, most likely the youngest of the group, also had tears on his cheeks. She was a bit confused because of it, but kept struggeling against her captor.   
"Shh, lass. We won't hurt ya or yer adad. We just wanna know who ya are." The dwarf behind her whispered in her ears. When she moved her head, to take a look at him, her dark curly hair fell behind her back, revealing the little family braid with the handmade bead at the end. A present from her adad decades ago. 

"Thorin, ya should take a look at this.. Lass where did ya get this?" He moved her in his arms, only holding her with one arm now, the other hand was holding her little braid. The dwarf named Thorin made his way over to her and took a look at the bead, inhaling sharp when he recognised it. The girl was silent now and watched both dwarves with fearful eyes. 

"Where" the one named Thorin barked "Where did you got those bead? I will only ask this question once, so answer me truthfully or by Mahal..." She sobbed and shrank away from him as best as she could with the red haired dwarf attached to her.   
"Thorin." Another one, with white hair and a grandfatherly look said sternly. "You are scaring her, let her breath and I am sure she will answer your questions. Am I right lass?" He had a small smile on his face when he faced her. She only nodded and looked back at Thorin again.   
"Please help my adad. I'll tell you everything... please" She looked at her father, still unconscious on the ground and back up again.   
"Oin, look after him." He waved in the direction of another elderly dwarf "And now I want answers. Who are you, what is your name and where did you get those bead?"  
She nodded and began her story.  
"I was born as the daughter of a dwarf and a hobbit lass. I am the daughter of Hako, son of Tarko and Primadonna Took." There was another sharp inhale behind her, but she couldn't see who made that sound. "My parents were killed when I was a wee lass, only 6 years old. The men that killed my parents were slavers and when they found me, they brought me to their camp. There was another slave, a dwarf, and they told him that he should show me how to behave and how to be a slave or they would kill me like my parents." She closed her eyes and more tears were rolling along her cheeks.  
"He took me under his wings and we were sold multiple times, but always had the chance to stay together. After a few years he adopted me, because we both had no family and it is safer to have someone looking after you, when you are a lass. So I became his daughter, I was nine at this time, now I am 35 and of age. Our owner wanted to sell me to a rich lord of men, knowig he was looking for a special, a... a pure lass. But he wanted to sell me without my adad." She opened her eyes again and looked at Thorin with fear in them. "The day they told us, they beat him nearly to death, that is why he couldn't help me today, he is still recovering. We ran away, I lock picked our shackles and we ran. That was yesterday and today they found us... I-I am sorry..." she looked on the ground "Please forgive me.. if it wasn't for you... we both would be dead by now." Her knees gave away and if the dwarf behind her wasn't still holding her, she would have hit the ground, but he hold her and gently sank with her to the ground.   
"Lass, tell us yer name." He whispered in her ear from behind. 

"I- My name is Evangeline and my adad" she looked to the dwarf on the ground "is Frerin, son of Thrain, son of Thror."


	3. Learning the truth

There were multiple gasps around her. 

Thorins eyes widen and he was looking from the woman in front of him to the dwarf on the ground. His eyes went cold and his expression went dark.  
"That can't be true, you are lying." He threw his sword to the ground and stalked over to Evangeline, who cowered away. He was towering over her when he spoke again, "My brother died years ago in Moria. You are a traitor." She swallowed hard and the dwarf behind her exhaled audible before he stood up with her still in his arm. 

"N-no, his name is Frerin, I am not lying. Please don't hurt him.... Take it out on me." She was still trying to swallow the lump in her throat. Her eyes left Thorins furious looking face and she looked to the ground. She was ready for anything that was about to happen, as long as her adad was safe. 

Then suddenly the older dwarf at Frerins side shouted "Stop it. Let 'er be, Thorin, I knew your brother since he was a wee one. I don't know how this is possible." he was shaking his head in disbelief, "but your lost brother has returned." He looked at Thorin with certainty and the leader ran over to the dwarf on the ground. He looked at the swollen and bloody face and the disheveled hair that still had his own family bead and the heir of the throne bead in it. Sure enough, under all those bruises was the face of his beloved brother, who they all believed was dead. He was gone so long. Thorins eyes filled with tears and he grasped one of Frerins hands in his own, before he kissed it and leaned over him to bump their foreheads together. Evangeline watched the scene with wide eyes, still trying to understand what was happening, when two of the younger dwarfes ran over to Thorin and her adad. Both leaned over Frerin and bumped their foreheads to his before they embraced a now weeping Thorin. They all cried and the rest of the company around her was watching the scene before them. The dwarf behind her took a step back and released her. The woman was still confused, she was waiting for a punishment, and the behavior of the group around her was puzzling. They weren't acting like all the men she met in her life. 

Thorin looked at his company with red rimmed eyes " We will camp here today, Bombur please make us something hearty to eat, these two need it." He looked back to Oin, who was still working on Frerins wounds. Frerin let out a groan when Oin bandaged his head, but staid unconscious.

Evangeline stood there, unable to move when everbody around her was working on the camp and Thorin came back to her. She was looking at the ground again, when Thorin stood in front of her, still afraid of what might happen to her. He cupped her chin with his hand and lifted it. His thumb brushed away another tear from her cheek. She flinched slightly, only her adad was touching her without hurting her, so she was expecting to get a slap or worse from Thorin.

"Look at me" he said with a soft voice. It took a moment and some deep breaths, before she slowly looked up at him with pleading eyes. "I am sorry.. I apologize for my behavior, but my brother..." now it was Thorins turn to take a deep breath "we thought he was dead for over 50 years. Evangeline, adopted daughter of Frerin, son of Thrain, will you forgive me?"

She looked at him confused, her brows furrowed, why was he apologizing? Never in her whole life has anyone apologized to her, only her adad and he never had to apologize for his own actions, he was always sorry for things others did to her. She opened he mouth and closed it again, she was at a loss for words and the lump in her throat was back again.  
"I-I.. uhm.. yes?" She said in a low voice. Unsure if this was, what was expected of her. 

"Oin will look at you, when he is done with my brother. Will you sit down with me and tell me more about my brother and his time with you?" He nearly pleaded, so Evangeline nodded and Thorin led her to a blanket, which was laid out for him by the red haired dwarf, which was crying earlier.  
"Should I write everything down, T-thorin?" he stuttered and his cheeks went bright red.  
"No, we will write it down at a later point, now I want everything just for me, thank you Ori." Said dwarf bowed slightly and left. The one who held Evangeline earlier came over to them and held out a skin with water to her. 

"Thought ya want some. Ya sure must be dehydrated, little one."  
She smiled a little and shy smile and looked back to the ground, but took the skin from his hands. "Thank you." her voice was so small but grateful.  
"Ya know, we are good lads, I know what they have done to ya and what they teached ya, but please, don't always look at the ground. Noone will hurt ya for looking at us, just try it." She let his words sink in and nodded, but it still took some time before she raised her eyes to look at him. He had deep red hair which was done in a starshaped hairstyle and his eyebrows where braided into his hair. And she saw matching scars around his wrist, so he knew what he was talking about. She nodded in his direction. "See, that's quite allright. I am Nori by the way, at yer service little miss." He winked and left to fetch some firewood.

"He is right, you are not a slave anymore. You can look us in the eyes and won't be punished by anyone. I promise. I know this will be hard for you, for both of you and I can only hope and pray, that you can get over everything they put you through. It will take it's time, but you'll live the life you deserve." Thorin said to her, with a strong voice, it was not a question, it was command, but one that was only to make her feel better.

"So.. uhm.. what do you want to know?" Another deep breath and she slowly raised her eyes to glance at him.  
"There is so much I want to know, but please tell me more about how you two bonded and what he told you about our race and us" his hands pointed at him and then to the two younger dwarfs, still sitting at Frerins side. 

"O-okay." She was looking between Frerin, the one they named Thorin and the ground, before her eyes stayed on Thorin. 

"When the slavers brought me to their camp, they shoved me into Frerins arms and told him he should show me how I have to behave and what was expected from a slave. They also made clear that they won't be easy on me, because I was a child. They told me what ways they had to punish me, before they left us both tied with shakless in a dark room." Tears where forming in her eyes again " I-I was so scared." Her voice was faint and Thorin had to strain his ears. "I was a child, an orphan.. a.. a burden. But adad, he only showed me love from the very first day. He told me everything he knew, showed me how to behave when the slavers were around and how to be nearly invisible when they had a bad temper. He took more than one beating for me, he made sure I always had something to eat and drink. He told me stories of his forefathers and a lot of stories about his family.. about you and his nephews and about Dis. But I never expected you to find us. I wasn't expecting anyone to find us, or anyone to help us. I am still ashamed for my behavior towards you." she ducked her head and was now looking back at the ground again. 

"There is no need to feel that way. You were protecting the one that is your family. But I think we have to work a bit on your stance and how to handle a sword properly." He smirked, when she looked up. 

"Frerin tried to show me how to fight with a sword, but we never had much time for that and we always had to be careful so noone knew about it. He also teached me Khuzdul and Inglishmek." Now it was Evangeline who was smirking. She loved the lessons from Frerin and she loved her fathers tongue, even when it sounded really harsh. 

"We will teach you more of it, when we travel." He waved towards a bald headed dwarf with an impressive beard and an even more impressive scowl on his face. His brows were furrowed and he was watching both of them from where he was standing next to the nice white headed dwarf.  
"Don't worry, he will warm up to you soon, I am sure. His brother, Balin" He waved towards the elder dwarf "will teach you more about our history and the quest we are at." 

He looked at his brother and then back at Evangeline. " Please tell me about what happened yesterday, the day they told you about your fate."


	4. Talking

She grimaced but after a few deep breaths and after her shaking hands brushed away a new wave of tears, she told him.

"They had a camp in the forrest, we both were tied to a tree with shakless around our wrists." She looked up in the sky and tried to get back the controll of her eyes. "The one who tried..." her voice was fading "who tried to rape me.. he came to us and told me that there was a rich lord, one of men, who wanted to buy me.. only me.. for his-his entertainment. To break me like a wild horse, who needs to be broken. I.. I struggled when he touched my face and threw every insult I knew in Khuzdul at him. He was angry, very angry and I knew there was something bad to happen. I mibehaved. I failed. I failed and they made my adad pay for me.'Because if they would have punished me, the lord would not pay.'" She quoted the slavers. "I thought they would kill him, all this bruises where done that day. I think he has at least one broken rib." She was sobbing in her hands now, and nearly all of the company were looking worried at her, most of them were eavesdropping. The younger of Frerins nephews came over to them with a bowl of stew in his hands. 

"I don't want to interrupt you, but Bombur gave me a bowl for you. You look like you haven't eaten in days." he said with a soft voice, while one of his hands reached out to touch Evangelines shoulder. Again she flinched at the sudden touch, and Kili recoiled his hand. 

"Sorry, I am not used to gentle touches." she said with an unsure smile on her face, which did not reach her eyes. "Thank you and please say thank you to Bombur."   
She held the bowl in both hands before she slowly started to eat with the spoon in her right hand. 

"Won't you eat too?" she asked Thorin who was watching her intently. 

"No, not now. I will eat later when everyone is well-fed."

"I am feeling like I am eating away your food. I don't want to be a burden to you or the others. Please tell me if there isn't enough and I will stop, so you can have it." She was worried, will she get punished if there wasn't enough stew for everyone? 

"Don't worry sweet one, we have enough food and at the moment, the two of you need it more than everyone else in my company. Eat up little one." He gave her another smile, before he looked at his brother again, also worried but for a whole other reason than what Evangeline was thinking. 

"Thank you". She ate slowly and by the time her bowl was empty most of the company had a second or even a third for themselves. After she finished the bowl she went to Bombur and asked him what she should do with it, because there was no stream nearby to wash it.

"Oh don't you worry the pretty head of yours. Gimme, I take care of it." 

"Thank you Master Bombur." 

He shuckled "No need for the master, just Bombur."

"Oh, okay, so ... uhm.. thank you Bombur." Another small smile played on her lips, this time it reached her eyes, before she turned her back towards Bombur and made her way over to the tree, where her father was sleeping under. The other dwarves had made him a little bed with bedrolls and blankets. He was still unconscious and because everyone was eating at the moment, noone sat at his side.

"Oh adad." she took his left hand in her own "please come back to me. We survived so much together and finally there seems to be an happy ending for the two of us. I need you, adad. I need you at my side to help me with everything that is happening around us right now." She only whispered, but the dwarf in the shadows behind her heard every word. He closed his eyes and his expression was sad.

How could someone hurt a woman, a woman who was still a child in so many ways. She never had a chance till today and Nori swore to himself, he would never let anyone harm her again. He was sure, he was not the only one from the company who thought that way, but he was the only one who experienced being held captive and torture himself. It wasn't for the same reasons, but it was not less horrible. 

Evangeline fell asleep, leaning against the tree, still holding Frerins hand. Oin checked on Frerin and technically he wanted to do the same with Evangeline, but the girl also needed a lot of sleep and so he let her sleep. Kili came up behind him, holding a blanket in his hands, he drapped it over the sleeping woman and let his eyes linger on her for a few more moments before he went back to his own bedroll besides his brothers. 

"What do you think Fee?"

"I don't know, to be honest. We thought him dead for so long and now he is back, barely alive and with an adopted daughter who is so broken. I hope he will wake up soon, but till then, we will rest too. Sleep well Kee and don't worry, everything will be alright."

"Yeah, I hope so, g'night Fee."

Thorin was siting at the fire, taking the first watch was deep in thoughts when Dwalin and Balin came over to him.


	5. Waking up

"Yer sure ya wanna take the watch while yer mind is far away?" Dwalin asked with a frown. 

"Mhm, I still can't believe what happened today. We are on our way to reclaim our homeland and stumble upon a group of slavers that happened to held my long lost brother captive? Mahal, what are your plans for us?" 

Balin only nodded, also deep in thoughts.   
"What do you think about the little miss?" He finally asked Thorin, who looked up after hearing his question.

"Her words seem to be true, but I want to ask my brother about her, when he wakes up. This journey isn't one for womenfolk, but I guess we have to take both of them with us." He sighed and then looked over to Dwalin. "Dwalin, I want you to work with her, show her how to hold a sword properly and train her as much as you can. Balin" he looked over to his old adviser and friend " I want you to teach her our language and our sign language, also teach her the history of our family and everything else you think she will need. She is an adopted Durin after all."

Both dwarves nodded. "Now go to sleep, first watch is nearly over and I need both of you tomorrow." With that he dismissed both, who went to their bedrolls, whispering to each other.

Kili woke up to a distressed voice, mumbling near him. He opened his eyes and scanned the area before his eyes stopped at Evangeline, clearly having a nightmare. Her skin was sweaty and her hair stucked on her forehead. 

"No, please.. no. don't do this... no.." She was pleading in her sleep, her whole body was shaking. Kili was about to stand up and walk over to her, when he saw Nori. He had the last watch for the night and was now standing besides the restless Dwobbit.

He crouched down and gently shoke her shoulder, but that only seems to deepen her nightmare.

"NO no no... please." She shoke her head.

Nori closed his eyes for a few seconds, inhaled deeply and then whisper-shouted her name "Evangeline". Her pleas became silent and her eyes snapped open immediately and she flinched away from the hand still laying on her shoulder. 

"I- I am sorry." She whispered to Nori, who was still holding her. 

"Ya don't have to be. We all have these." He smiled at her before standing up "Try to sleep a bit more, I will watch over ya and yer adad."

"O-Okay.. yes.. uhm.. thank you Nori" she whispered before she lay down besides Frerin, closing her eyes and falling into a restless, but dreamless sleep. 

When she woke up again, the sun was high up in the sky. For a short moment she felt panic rise up within her body, but when she saw the dwarves of the company she relaxed instantly. These were good people, they won't hurt her or her adad, they were his family after all. The hand of Frerin, which she was still holding, twitched. He was slowly waking up. 

When he opened his eyes, carefully because he had no idea what was happening around him, he heared a lot of different voices. Voices that didn't belong to the master or the other slavers. Men don't speak Khuzdul. He closed his eyes again. Was he dead? Was he dead and in the halls of his forefathers? Did he left Evangeline, leaving her alone surrounded by slavers? His heart sank and he had to swallow a few times before he dared to move. His hand twitched and he could hear a sharp inhale besides him. 

"Adad? Adad, are you ok?" A worried Evangeline asked him. Were they both dead?

"He is waking up" she whispered " Oin, Thorin, he is waking up" she said louder this time. Said dwarves came over to her. Thorin held a bowl in his hand which he gave to Evangeline, but she had no eyes for the food, she was watching her father, who was now fully awake.

"Eve?" he asked with a raspy voice.

"I am here, adad." she answered with a thick voice, her eyes became teary again. 

"Let me take a look at you, Frerin. Lass, you are next, please eat up and stay ready." Oin said, holding his ear trump as he waited for a response from either of them. 

Frerin furrowed his brows, he knew this voice, he knew the names his daughter had said, but they were long gone.They were part of his history and he felt a sting in his heart. He missed his family and everybody else he knew. He finally opened his eyes and saw an elder dwarf hovering above him, he instantly remembered him. This was Oin, his Oin, the medic that he knew his whole life. But how was this possible? He tried to get up to get a better look at the older dwarf and the other ones, that must be near him. 

"Don't move, dear friend. You are hurt and you need to rest." Oin said, holding him down. 

"Oin" Frerin said in disbelief, "how? Eve?" 

Evangeline squeezed his hand "I am right here, right besides you"

"Thank Mahal." Frerin said, his voice full of emotions. 

"Frerin, I need you to listen to me." Oin began and Frerin nodded his head in response.  
"I am watching over you since we found you and Evangeline yesterday. And when I say we, I mean the company I am travelling with." He touched Frerins shoulder "I know this sounds strange to you, and believe me it is, the chance was so small but by Mahal it is wonderful. We heard Evangeline scream and we ran in the direction we thought she was. We saw what was about to happen to her, that was the moment we decided to attack. We saved her and she saved you. You fell unconscious and we had the chance to tend to you wounds." 

Frerin nodded, now he knew that his daughter wasn't defiled by this scum of a man. His heart skipped a beat, when he heard another dwarf speak to him, that couldn't be...  
"Mahal heard my prayers." the dwarf fell to his knees besides Frerin, who could see the face for the first time. 

"Thorin.." 

"Yes. Nadad, I am here. I will never let you go again"

"Oh, Thorin... I made it. Eve, we made it." Frerin said, still in pain but a small smile on his face, his free hand was landing on Thorins shoulder. "Tell me everything I missed while I was gone. How is our sister? How are the lads?" His voice was faltering and Evangeline squeezed his hand again. 

"Oin, I want you to inspect Evangelines wounds, while I tell my brother everything." 

Oin nodded and stood up, holding one hand out for Evangeline, to help her up. When she got to her feet, he led her away from the camp, so noone would disturb them.


	6. Chapter 6

"So lassie, please sit down." 

"Um... ok." Evangeline nodded and sat down on a big, flat rock. 

"I have to look on all your wounds, normaly we would have a dwarrowdam look at you, but I am the only healer avaliable at the moment, I hope you don't mind?"

"No, it is allright, thank you Oin."   
It was still hard for Evangeline to talk openly to others and to look at them and not to the ground while talking. Everybody of the company made her feel safe and protected, even the bald headed dwarf, Dwalin. They were all pretty protective of one another and even more of a woman, that was how they were raised in a race with less and less woman every generation.

She let her dress fall over her shoulders, so her back was bare before the older dwarf, who inhaled sharply at the sight before him. There was barely any skin left that wasn't scarred. He closed his eyes, desperately trying to keep his feelings together. 

"I know this is not a nice thing to see. I failed more times, than I successed in beeing a good slave. I am sorry you have to look at this" she hung her head and silent tears were running down her cheeks. She knew she was hideous, noone would want to look at her, if it wasn't necessary. 

"Oh lass, don't say things like that. You are free now and your scars only show how strong you are, what kind of horrors you survived." He squeezed her shoulder tenderly. "I will rub some salve on you back. Are there any other wounds you want me to take a look at?"

She nodded. More wounds, how could someone hurt this lass so much? Oin asked himself while working on her back. 

After some minutes he told her "Your back is done, I bandaged the deeper wounds, I want to look at them tomorrow again." he inhaled deeply "What other wounds do you have lass?"

"I.. I.. uhm.. they branded me. I think it is inflamed." The last sentence was only a whisper.

"Show me, lassie" Oin said.

She lifted her skirt with a trembling hand. There was an angry red S on her right hipbone just above her underpants, Oin touched the skin around it and knew immediately that it was indeed inflamed. 

"I have to put my ointment on it, this will hurt, a lot. I am sorry lassie." 

She closed her eyes and nodded. 

Oin put the ointment in her sore skin, it was hurting like hell, but Evangeline bit her teeth together and only a small wimper escaped her lips. 

"We need to watch this one closely, I will change the bandages around it this evening again. You can go back now, I will follow you soon." 

Evangeline left Oin and went back to the camp and her father. Oin sat down on the stone, deep in thoughts when Nori plopped down near him. 

"Will ya tell Thorin 'bout her wounds?" he asked

"No, it is her story to tell, not mine. I don't think she would appreciate it, if I would tell him. The only thing he has to know is that they have hurt her a lot." Oin sighed.

"Yeah, yer probably right, but we have to watch her closely, when we start our journey again. I hope we can keep her safe." and with that he vanished back in the shadows. 

Oin made his way back to the campside. 

 

Evangeline sat down besides her adad, who was still talkig to Thorin, with his nephews around him. The dark haired one, Kili looked at her and gave her a little smile, while the blond, Fili kept on listening to her adads story. He was just telling them about what happened the previous day, when Evangelines eyes grew heavy and her head fell onto her fathers shoulder. Kili stood up and went over to the bedrolls, he came back with a blanket in his hands and drapped it around Evangelines shoulders. Frerin changed his position and soon her head was laying on top of his legs, one of his hands stroking her long black curls. 

"If they hadn't brought her there, I think I would be dead. She was everything that held me here, kept me alive. I hope, no I know you will accept her as a family member." Frerin said in a serious voice and everyone from his family nodded. "Good. When will we start the journey again, dear brother?" 

"I think we can rest one or two more days, we made it here pretty fast and you and Evangeline need every pause you can get." 

Frerin nodded at his brother and began to lay down besides Evangeline.

"Then I will start my beauty sleep now." he chuckled and closed his eyes, just like Evangeline he was asleep in seconds.


End file.
